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Transcript: Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi

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December 26, 2007

Q:  I know your mantra is that you are not on a 15-game winning streak; you are on a 15 one-game winning streaks.  So how do you guys approach this one now that history is at the doorstep?

A:  I think the first thing you have to do is acknowledge it and realize where you are.  I think it is obvious to all of us, if we win this game, what can we achieve.  And it is something that has never been done before in the history of the NFL.  And we acknowledge that.  But in the locker room we have to say to ourselves, "Well, how did we get to this point in the first place?"  And the formula has always been, "Okay, who is the next opponent?  And let's focus on winning that game.  And whatever it means, it means.  Let's just focus on winning."  And I think that helps us a lot this year, tremendously, to really help us focus and worry about what is next and not worry about what is reflected upon. 

Q:  There has been some debate here in New York about what the Giants should do since they really have nothing to play for in terms of seeding, or anything like that.  Is there a preference for you guys on how they play the game?

A:  I have no preference.  I have never really thought about - I know this --- I can't control how the opponent prepares for us.  You can't.  They have got our 15 games, they have their game plan, what they think is best to get a victory.  I know they are preparing to win the game.  But in terms of who they play or how they handle it, it is out of my control.  What we are going to in here is prepare like we are going to have their best.  I think that is all we can do.  And that is, I think, what we will focus on.

Q: Are you expecting a typical week from Bill?  I know last week you practiced in pads before Miami.  Is he going to be just as hard on you as he would any other week?

A:  Absolutely.  I expect nothing less.  If there is any year --- I have been around Bill awhile, and if there was any year where he could possibly throw us a bone, or take care of it because of any type of success we had, it would be this year.  But he has coached us harder this year than he has ever done in previous years.  I think that is a testament to him for keeping his focus.  We veterans appreciate that because we can prepare a certain way - full pads, no pads, whatever you want to do.  I think there are certain veteran players that are going to do the same thing no matter what.  But I think it shows a great example to younger players how we really don't care how many games we have won in the past, how we are looked up.  It is about how we prepare during the week and how hard we are going to work.  And Bill has proved to us this year, no matter what the situation is, we are going to work hard.

Q:  Do you feel any way that this is maybe Bill's best year as a coach of your team in terms of what he does?

A:  I have been here since Bill arrived and I think that definite answer would be a yes.  And I say that because of the constant focus he has had on us this year.  And I can always tell the focus of Coach Belichick in the team meetings or how he has us going about how we prepare on the practice field just by basically what he says and how hard he is on us.  And he has been harder on us this year than in any years past, I think.  I think it is because just his determination to win.  And I think he leads us by the attitude he has, and all of us have.  We win a game and we want to keep on winning.  So how do we win that game?  We have worked hard so the... continue to win.  We must work harder. 

Q:  I would imagine that when a team rushes for almost 300 yards before you play them it catches a linebacker's interest?

A:  Yeah, I think it is what they do best as the New York Giants, and that is run the ball.  I think collectively this may be the best offensive line we have gone up against.  They work well as a unit, and especially when they lock on to guys.  I don't see a lot of guys shedding them and making tackles.  They are great one-on-one blockers.  And that is only the beginning.  Because once the ball is handed off to big backs like they have --  like Jacobs - you have to have more than an arm to bring him down. So it is going to be definitely a tackling emphasis for us ---- a gang tackling game because it definitely takes more than one to bring down some of the backs that they have. 

Q: Do you feel in any way the team was just a little flat in the second-half against Miami?

A:  I would have to disagree.  I would have to disagree because we are always out there to win the game.  And I think as viewers of the game you might say that we came out flat, but we had players say that Miami was playing very hard.  And they are a prideful team and they were doing their best to stop our offense and put points on the board.  And that is the way that I see that.

Q: Did you notice any difference in your coach after that incident of the first week with spygame?  Did he change in any way that you could notice?

A:  Well, I think that alludes to the question that was asked me before in terms of the - it is probably the best year that I have seen Coach Belichick have as a coach --- collectively as a whole because of all of the distractions that he has had.  And with every distraction that he has had, he has come through it stronger.  He has coached us harder and I think that is him saying, "I can only worry about one thing, and that is how I prepare this team."  He is not worrying about outside factors and he has done a great job of that this year and he has continued to take that maybe as motivation to just continue to be the best coach that he possibly can be and prepare his team as hard as we can work. 

Q:  How much throughout the year - he passed that first week - did he use that whole thing as motivation just to say, "Guess what guys, no matter what you do somebody has questioned our integrity and our accomplishments?"

A:  I think we as veterans took that lead in terms of after the San Diego game rallying around him postgame in the locker room, telling him how we felt about him after the game when we won that game as convincingly, talking about it amongst ourselves.  Coach Belichick hasn't really used that too many times to motivate us.  Because he doesn't really want to .... To him, he focuses his energy on what is important.  So I think that was sort of a means to him of maybe from distracting from the purpose - distracting him from the purpose. Bringing in outside factors in the meetings takes away from time to game plan and tell us what we have to do to win the game.  And he really focuses on goals to win the game and not worrying about what is being said about him or us.

Q: You guys pretty much kept that as motivation and amongst yourselves?

A:  Yes, especially our veterans, the guys that have been around.  Because we consider ourselves a close knit group.  And obviously our leader, Coach Belichick, is a member of that group and in that circle. And when something like that - whether it is a player or a coach that is attacked, it just sort of rallies us closer together.  And it will motivate us to win the game to not only let him know that we are behind him but to see it as an opportunity to come closer as a team.

Q: In the locker room after the game against the Chargers, that was a big theme.  You guys were talking about the fact that your three Super Bowls were being questioned or tarnished in some way.  Has that diminished at all?  You guys seem to have moved on to other things since then. 

A:  Absolutely. We have moved on from that.  I don't think we are taking that as a year long motivational tool that we put up signs on the wall or anything like that. To us, that was said, that was speculated.  Now it is over with and we have to focus on this year and focusing on what is next for us.

Q:  There was some talk after last season about you possibly not playing this year. How close were you to making that decision?  And are you glad that you didn't.............

A:  That decision was really over dramatized.  I don't know how that got started.  At the end of the game they asked me what I was going to.  As I'm answering your questions, and I really don't think about what I am going to do in two months or three months from now.  It is what I am going to do tomorrow, or right now.  And at that point I was just reflecting the loss that we had just experienced.  So there was really no doubt in my mind whether I was coming back this year or not. 

Q:  Certain commentators have looked at your defense, or your team trying to find the slightest imperfection.  We have heard that your linebackers are "old".  What is your reaction to that?

A:  They are right.  You have a lot of linebacking crews that have guys who are 23, 24, 25; something like that.  And I think we have 38, 34, and 32, 33; things like that.  So I think they are just stating the obvious.  In terms of football years we are older that most other linebacking corps.  But I think, like we do a lot of things, we focus on how we can use that as positives.  And I think our experience really comes into factor when we play in games.  The way we are able to communicate with each other, without really talking sometimes, is a big advantage for us. 

Q:  I assume this is one of the strongest teams you have ever been on.  What is it like when you guys are beating teams by so many points?  What do you see in the eyes of the opponent?

A:  This is professional football and I respect every one that we play.  And I continue to do that because no matter what the score has been, I have had individual battles with offensive guards.  And they continue to play hard.  Every team has continued to play hard.  And I know that for a fact because I have been in games when we have been blown out and I have continued to play hard.  Five and 11 seasons when the last game of the year you just try to finish and play hard.  I have never really seen teams rolling over or anything like that.